


arcades

by foilflingza



Category: Splatoon
Genre: M/M, if yall dont start writing about these mfers, only one fic in their tag. i shall change that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25475212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foilflingza/pseuds/foilflingza
Summary: the boys go on a silly date
Relationships: Backwards/Safari Hat (Splatoon)
Kudos: 13





	arcades

A mechanical whir as the doors slid open, ice cold air smacking them in the face before they even stepped all the way in. Backwards was more familiar with The Shoal, spending pretty much any spare change he had here. This was probably the first time Safari has ever been, unless he went as a child and just couldn't remember. He wasn't huge on arcade games, or video games in general, for that matter. Backwards took in a deep breath, the same stale air as always, and exhaled with a huge smile. "So! What d'you wanna do first?"

Safari puffed out his cheeks a little, eyes darting around the space. Taking in all the lights, the clicks and beeps of all the games, the tacky patterned carpet that probably hasn't been thoroughly cleaned in 20 years. "I dunno. You've been here a lot, not me." 

"Ah, yeah…" Backwards faltered for a second, toying with the coins filling his pockets. He honestly tried to think about the games he was worse at, wanting Safari to win at least a little so he could have fun. "We could try the racing ones? You get to actually be in a chair and there's a steering wheel and stuff, it's really cool." He beamed and jabbed a finger to where said game was stationed, bright red and yellow plastic seats reflecting the light of the screen. Safari nodded, and so they made their ways over.

Backwards took the red seat and Safari took the yellow, and Backwards slid around in the seat, the back being a little too high up for him. Curse his short genes. Nonetheless he put coins into each of the slots, and they both picked their cars, a map being assigned at random. Safari spun the wheel around a few times and laid his feet on the pedals before the match started, getting a feel for how close it was to the real thing.  _ Shouldn't be too hard. _

Backwards smirked at him, and the match started, and they were off. Safari had little difficulty steering around but seemed to be forgetting that it was a  _ racing _ game. Backwards had to keep telling him to speed up before he was too far behind, but being distracted by telling him, he fell behind himself. He muttered a curse and tried to readjust and watched Safari speed past him. Neither of them were near first place, but his mouth gaped at the screen and a competitive fire lit up inside him. Safari giggled at him. "It's a racing game, silly." He mocked Backwards' voice as he kept speeding up. Backwards scoffed and slammed his feet on the pedal, catching up to the other.

They friendly bickered until the end of the race, Safari only getting 4th and Backwards placing just one behind him at 5th. Safari smiled smugly down at him, and Backwards laughed. "See! You won something!"

"Well, I didn't  _ win _ but I beat you so that's enough," Safari replied, but it did make him a little happy, having fun and winning a little bit. "What else is here?"

Backwards eyes lit up. Safari was actually having fun with him and it made his heart warm, having his boyfriend enjoy something he loved, too. He dragged Safari off to other various games, rambling about them and putting coins into endless machines and playing them with him. Eventually they got to the claw machines, filled with stuff like plushies and candy and cheap electronics that are probably already broken in the packaging. 

When they stepped up to one Backwards noticed that his stomach was actually  _ really _ starting to hurt. "Hey, you don't mind if i walk down the street and go get us some food, right?"

Safari hardly acknowledged the question and stared, lost in the claw machines holding the plushies. "Yeah, sure." Backwards forced a handful of coins into his hands, making sure he didn't drop any and left Safari on his own.  _ Shouldn't take too long, Crusty Sean is pretty fast.  _

In the meantime, Safari tried to win some plushies himself. He particularly liked one that had a bunch of differently colored bears inside, each sporting a piece of gear. He saw a white one with red eyes, with the varsity jacket Backwards wears and his face lit up, suddenly filled with the need to get that particular one. He slotted some coins into the machine, giving him three tries. He moved the claw over to it and let it drop. It didn't pick up the bear that first time, but he was optimistic. He tried again the second, where the claw picked it up and dropped it as soon as the claw went to move to the basket. The third try did the same. Huffing in annoyance, he tried again. And again. And again. And by the last time he tried he only had a couple of coins left and he was really about to throw a punch at the machine. 

At that point Backwards walked back in, small bag of food in hand and he made his way over to Safari. "Hey, I got-" he stopped and looked up at Safari, the brim of his hat looming over his face where he couldn't see his eyes, and instantly knew he was upset. "What's wrong?" 

Safari looked at him, face scrunched up in a sour expression. "This game is stupid." 

"Aw, the claw machines? They're kind of hard, you don't win too much," he tried to reassure him but that only seemed to make it worse.

"But I need to win, I wanna get that one," he pointed a finger at the white bear, still laying on its side where it dropped. Backwards let out a sympathetic 'aww' and set the food bag down next to them.

"You want help?" Safari nodded and stepped to the side, giving the coins back to him. Backwards put them in and moved the claw back to the bear, but it grabbed another one by accident. That one dropped, but he hummed, thinking. The next try he went specifically for that one.

"Hey-" Safari interjected, but Backwards shot him down. "Just watch." 

He grabbed that one, and it got halfway through the claw moving back before dropping. "I just got it out of the way." Safari's eyebrows shot up as he watched Backwards go for the white bear again, excitement growing in a quick moment as he watched the claw grab it completely. It moved over, secured tight, and Backwards managed to land it in the prize bin. He smiled wide as Backwards took it out and presented it to him. "Tada!" 

He took it in his hands, smiling really goofy at the little plush. "Thank you." 

Backwards watched as Safari ran his thumbs over the bear's ears, soft material bending under it. He smiled warmly, affectionate feelings filling his chest. "No problem. You wanna eat now?" Safari nodded quickly, and they ate and played games together the rest of the day there. 

**Author's Note:**

> im genuinely very good at claw machines and this is pure projection


End file.
